Four Times Mako Cheated
by alliceau
Summary: And one time he really worked for what he wanted. In which Mako plays Pai Sho, scams an innocent young couple, is super confused about relationships and gets advice from Bolin of all people. Oneshot. Makorra. Post S02E10


AN: Hey everyone. Sorry for such a long break. More comments at the bottom. Enjoy!

_Four Times Mako Cheated_

_(And one time he really worked for what he wanted)_

* * *

1: Mako was losing really badly. He was playing against his father, but still. He shouldn't be losing _this _badly.

His father had decided to teach him how to play Pai Sho. Believing it to be a very adult game for grown up smart adults, Mako had been enthusiastic when his father had offered to teach him. He wasn't so enthusiastic anymore. He'd learnt how to play a week ago and he still couldn't remember all the strategies and rules. But Mako was determined to come at least close to beating his father. He incessantly bugged his father all week to play with him, repeating the mantra _practice makes perfect, _and tugging him towards the board_. _

It really shouldn't be this difficult.

His father chuckled at Mako's frustrated expression, finding the way smoke steamed out of his nostrils endearing. Being only seven, Mako's control of his bending was minimal. His parents weren't particularly worried; control came with maturity, especially for firebenders and their little boy was quite the little man. His mother smiled from the kitchen as she placed cupcakes in the oven.

"Mako…" his father urged, laughing as his son petulantly held up a finger.

"I'm thinking. You have to let me think." Mako crossed his arms even tighter and tensed his body, his little hands clenching into fists and lines forming on his face in concentration.

"You've been thinking for 10 minutes," his father retorted. "Honestly, we should have a time limit."

"Mako," his mother's voice drifted down from above him. Mako looked up, his arms uncrossing unconsciously, his eyes inquisitive. "Look." She pointed towards a tile, signaling him to move it into a more favorable position. He did, understanding her intentions.

"Oh no! You've foiled my plan!" His father theatrically fell to the ground in despair. Bolin walked over, hearing his father's cries and offered his input.

"Mako cheated! He's a cheater!" he cried, laughing as he shoved his finger in his brother's offended face.

"I am not!" Mako aggressively pushed his face into his brother's. Bolin stood right in front of his brother's cross-legged form, ducking his head to meet his brother's eyes.

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Boys!" their mother chastened. Mako took that as a signal to change the path of the argument a little bit.

"Father's not complaining so why are you? Mind your own business!" Their father was currently rolling on the ground, openly laughing at his sons' antics. Their mother stared disapprovingly at them, scolding Mako for his impudent words.

"It's two against one! That's not fair!" Bolin screeched, as if Mako was being stupid and his cheating was oh so obvious.

"Boys!" their mother admonished once again. She held her hand up to her brow, slowly massaging her forehead. "Why don't you go help your father, Bolin? Then it'll be two against two. That's fair. We'll play earthbenders against firebenders. All better."

"Fine." The boys said together, neither particularly happy about the outcome of their argument. Bolin stuck his tongue out at Mako as he walked to the other side of the table. His father grabbed his waist and placed him on his lap so that the five-year-old could have better access to the board. Their mother settled behind Mako on the couch he was formerly leaning against, his head now resting on her knees.

Mako huffed, his fists smoking. He was not a loser _or_ a cheater.

* * *

2: Mako was desperate. His stomach was constantly aching, shriveling up into a tiny ball and squeezing the life out of him. It could only be worse for Bolin whose younger body couldn't cope with the constant stress of starvation. Rummaging through garbage cans wasn't enough and the cold bite of winter made everything they did find unsalvageable.

Mako really didn't know what to do. His parents were dead, though they visited him every night with their screams of terror. Mako relived every moment of their attack: the flashes of bright light that had taken them away and the firebender's dangerous tone that threatened them. He curled around Bolin at night, trying to reassure himself that at least Bolin was safe, that he hadn't left him as well.

Mako's main focus was taking care of Bolin. He had promised his parents that he would take care of his brother. But he was failing with every passing day. The rumblings of his brother's stomach agreed with this sentiment of failure, though his brother himself never said a word. But Bolin didn't need to tell Mako of the pains in his body, the aches that starvation caused because Mako felt them himself and knew how close they were to – _to_ _dying_. And that's why he was going against his parents moral teachings, doing what they had grinded in his head never to do.

He was going to cheat.

But, Mako reasoned, it can't really be all that bad if it means Bolin will get something to eat, that he'll survive. All he's really doing is distributing the money more evenly so that he and his brother won't starve. It's really actually quite fair.

Bolin didn't agree.

"Mako that's stealing! No, it's cheating! Cheating and stealing!" Bolin's green eyes were wide with disbelief at what his brother was suggesting. His voice lowered to a whisper and his eyes grew more dramatic. "You could get thrown in jail for that!"

Mako sighed and then groaned, feeling the effects on his thin frame.

"I know, Bo. But we have to. Do you understand? This is the only way we'll get money. I know mom and dad said it's not right, but our current situation means we have to do this. It's really important," Mako reasoned with his brother. "You're hungry aren't you?" Bolin nodded slowly, looking down, knowing where his brother's train of thought was going. "This is the only way we'll get food. So we're going to do it, okay?" His brother nodded again, his eyes downcast and his teeth worrying his wind torn bottom lip. "I'm going to need your help. We're going to use your earthbending okay? All you have to do move the cups around and then bend the rock into your sleeve at the last second. That part's really important, Bo. You really need to focus on that part otherwise we'll lose okay?" Bolin nodded again and then looked up, determined. Mako smiled at his brother, showing a rare emotion that wasn't anger or sadness. "You're going to save us, Bo. You're going to be my hero." Bolin smiled widely at those words, determined to make his brother proud. Mako patted Bolin reassuringly on the back and then gathered his brother in for a hug.

•••••

They found some empty cups in the trashcans and got a large rock off the side of a crumbling building. The two brothers set up at the front of a demolished building, right in the center of the city where there were hundreds of people milling about everyday.

Mako nudged his brother, nodding his head towards a young friendly looking couple. Bolin rush up to them, smiling charmingly and chirped,

"Hey do you want to play a game with me? Please?" He pouted up at them. His eyes seemed to grow even wider and water the longer they deliberated. Mako saw the moment the woman gave in and dragged her boyfriend along.

"Okay sweetie. What do you want to play?" Bolin took her arm and dragged her to his set up. He sat down in front of her.

"So there's three cups. This one has a rock under it." Bolin lifted the middle cup up, showing the popcorn-sized rock underneath. He put the cup back down over the rock. "The other cups have nothing underneath." He lifted the cups to show the couple. "I'm going to mix around this cups for a while and then you have to pick which one has a rock underneath. If you choose the right one, you win. So, wanna play?" He grinned boyishly, making himself look even younger than seven.

The woman smiled back and answered, "Okay." Mako could tell that she was humoring Bolin. Bolin spun the cups around, mixing it up so that it was hard for the woman to follow the motion of the cup with the rock inside. But he didn't earthbend the rock out – not this time at least. Bolin stopped moving the cups.

"That one." The woman pointed to the cup on her left. Bolin lifted the cup up and the rock appeared on the table. Bolin put the cup back down.

"You won! Good job. I'm usually pretty good at this game. I always win against my brother." Bolin smiled and pointed back at Mako. Mako waved lightly at them and tried to look as young and innocent as possible. The woman and her man made to leave but Bolin stopped them. "Wait! Let's just play one more time. We'll make it more interesting. This time, you give me 1 yuan. If you win, you'll get double back. But, if you lose, I get to keep the yuan. You in?" The woman looked to the man, who shook his head. She visibly protested and they whispered quietly together, deliberating.

This was the moment of truth. Mako didn't know if the couple would be willing to take Bolin up on the offer. Republic City was a dangerous place. Even the children couldn't be trusted, especially the homeless ones. Everyone knew that.

"Okay, we'll play once." Apparently not everyone. This time Bolin did bend the rock out into his sleeve, causing the couple to lose and Mako and Bolin to make some money. Mako glanced around, making sure there was no one looking too closely at Bolin. There was no need for anyone to figure out what they were doing and for them to pay the price.

The woman walked away, looking betrayed and confused, the man chastising her as they walked. Bolin called out to another child walking by who eagerly accepted his invitation to play, dragging their money-bearing parent along behind them.

As the day dragged on, Mako and Bolin's luck soon started to wear out. Not many people wanted to play, either having heard of their little scam or simply suspicious of two dirt-covered boys on the street asking to play a game. For good reason, of course.

They ended up making a decent 12 yuans that day. For the last two hours of the day, however, nobody dared approach them. Mako knew that this scam wouldn't work for long. Soon someone would figure out how they were cheating and beat them up, or even if that didn't happen, people would get tired of losing and stop coming.

Mako knew he was going to have to find new ways to cheat – no, _survive._

* * *

3: Mako was a terrible brother. He couldn't believe he let Korra kiss him, especially since he knew how Bolin felt about her. Especially since he was in a relationship with _Asami_. He groaned, shifting on the couch in the attic room where he was wallowing in self-pity.

Asami. What was he going to tell her? _So uh, Korra confessed that she really liked me and then she kissed me – but don't worry I didn't kiss her back!_ That would totally go over well. And in that attempt to be truthful to Asami, he would still be lying to her.

Korra was right, he admitted grudgingly to himself. He _had_ kissed her back. He did like Korra, but he liked Asami too. If Asami found out Korra and him had kissed…well he didn't know what she would do. She'd probably be heartbroken. Though she had never said anything, Mako knew she was insecure about his relationship with Korra. He appreciated her attempts to become friends with Korra, but also understood when Korra pushed her away. It must hurt, he thought, to see us together. Just like how seeing Bolin and Korra having so much together caused that uncomfortable knot to pull at his chest, never leaving despite his effects to smother it with his happiness with Asami. It just wouldn't go away.

Asami shouldn't be upset if she found out, he reasoned. After all, Mako picked her over Korra. Korra understands that, why shouldn't Asami? She was the more levelheaded of the two girls, after all.

He glanced at the clock, reading the time. Midnight. Bolin still wasn't back. He was probably passed out at Narook's, eating and drinking himself into a stupor. Rolling his eyes outwardly, but feeling a twinge of guilty in his chest, Mako stood up from his slouched perch on the couch and made his way out the door and onto the street. He had to go get his brother and bring him home. Tomorrow – no _today_, he supposed – was the most important day of their lives so far.

Walking down the street, Mako's uneven footsteps matched his scrambled thoughts. On one hand, he felt like telling his brother _I told you so_. Mako had warned him about the dangers of dating a teammate, let alone the Avatar. Did Bolin really expect a happily ever after? But Mako also felt incredibly guilty. He was the cause of Bolin's pain, of Korra's confusion and hurt and he was the one who had _cheated_ on Asami.

With a suddenly burst of anger Mako reasoned that it was all Korra's fault. How dare she kiss him after he had just told her that he was confused? Was that somehow analogous to "go ahead and kiss me" in Avatar language? Mako didn't understand. Approaching Narook's, Mako's fists started to steam as he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

Despite the fact that Korra was the one to initiate the kiss, Mako was the one to continue it. _She _was the one to break it, he thought, ashamed. What right did he have to blame Korra completely when he had been so tempted to kiss her again? How could he have completely lost control? Just a simple touch of her lips seemed to make him forget everything.

Asami was the right choice. She made more sense. Asami was the girl that he'd always imagined he would be with, who fit into his life. Mako _loved_ her. And because he loved her, he wouldn't tell her. The kiss was a mistake, as simple as that. It would never happen again. There was no need to unnecessarily bother Asami with the information when it would just hurt her. He would smooth things over with Bolin; they were brothers and they would get through this. And Korra…was the Avatar. She didn't need him and if interacting with her became too awkward…well, Mako would think of something. He always did.

* * *

4: This time, this time, Mako knew he wasn't doing anything wrong. Korra was gone, he _broke up _with her, and he wasn't in a relationship with anyone so why couldn't he have some fun with Asami? Despite having broken up with her over a year ago, he still found her beautiful and her company to be pleasurable. They understood each other. Both of them were under extreme stress at the moment and sought each other out during the day (and sometimes the night) to escape. Completely understandable adult behavior. Totally acceptable. It wasn't like he was _cheating_ on Korra. She was gone and they were done.

Sitting in a jail cell for hours on end waiting for someone to clear his name (Bolin, Asami, hell even Korra – though Mako knew that was farfetched considering she was currently in the Fire Nation) caused Mako's thoughts to wander. He had stewed and paced for the first couple hours about Varrick the rathawk-bastard but had eventually settled down in a dark corner and calmed down. His thoughts seemed to always stray back to the two leading ladies in his life.

Asami provided comfort and companionship. She was there when Korra wasn't and Mako had needed her. She perfectly fit his needs. They had a wonderful symbiotic relationship. But if it was so wonderful, why did it feel so wrong? Mako's brain clouded with euphoria every time he and Asami kissed, his troubles momentarily forgotten, almost (but not quite) covering up the guilty twinge he always felt.

He wasn't doing anything wrong. Technically. Bolin's accusatory shout when he realized Asami and Mako were back together seemed to disagree.

"Korra's only been gone for a week!"

Bolin was right. Korra had only been gone for a week and Mako felt kind of ashamed that he had moved on to Asami so quickly. It wasn't that Mako didn't love Korra; he was just so _angry _with her. Their relationship seemed to just fall apart in the last days she was in Republic City and they were both so busy that to Mako, their relationship hadn't really existed for the last couple weeks. He hated that Korra had run away before they could calm down, before anything could be resolved. Maybe she was more like her airbending predecessor than everyone thought.

Mako didn't really know how his feeling towards Korra really stood at this point. He was really angry with her, but at the same time, he was kind of worried. It had been a week and there was no word from her. He understood that she wouldn't have wanted to write to him, but Bolin was her best friend and Mako thought she would at least kept in touch with him. But Korra had her job and he had his and maybe they both just had to mind their own business.

He was hard pressed to admit it, but he missed Korra. Even when he and Asami were dating and his relationship with Korra was full of awkward moments and spouts of anger, she was always there, a constant (if sometimes frustrating) presence.

But Korra also caused a constant sense of confusion in his life; she was unpredictable and right now he needed someone stable. Asami was here and Korra was gone and it didn't matter that she'd been gone for only a week because _they had broken up_.

Mako wasn't cheating (but it had sure felt wrong anyways).

* * *

•••••

* * *

1: Korra had come back from the "Fire Nation" panicked and distraught. Turned out that she had been intercepted by Desna, Eska and a mad spirit, lost her memory, gone on a wild avatar journey, regained her memory and then gone on another wild avatar journey, this time with Jinora (who was a spiritual guide?) in tow. And the problem was, Jinora hadn't come back. So Mako understood when Korra had paid him absolutely no mind when she had first come back.

But he was understandably a little bit upset when she wouldn't even look at him after they had come back from their grand heroic adventure together in the spirit world. Bolin had probably told her about Asami and him. Sometimes Mako really wanted to rip out his brother's gossiping vocal chords. Yes, Korra had left when they were on bad terms but he had helped her close the spirit portal, save Jinora and beat Unalaq (not to mention Vaatu). Mako felt like he at least deserved Korra's friendship.

Asami and Mako had drifted apart after Korra had come back. Mako wasn't too upset; they hadn't even really been dating and their friends-with-benefits situation wasn't one that he missed too much. He was just happy that they were at least still friends. He figured she was faring well without him; Mako saw her dining with General Iroh once at Kwong's Cuisine.

Mako really just missed Korra. The Avatar had exploded into his life nearly two years ago, a constant beautiful presence. She had completely changed up his life, bringing with her light and happiness. In his anger, Mako had completely forgotten about how much Korra meant to him. And now that she was ignoring him, he desperately wanted her back. He wanted her to not make excuses to leave when they were in the same room, wanted to hear of her progress firsthand and not from Bolin and most of all, he wanted to be a to kiss her, to make her laugh, to tell her that he _still loved her._

So that's why Mako was on the ferry to Air Temple Island, swallowing his pride and apologizing to Korra. He really hadn't meant what he said to her; their relationship meant everything to him and he had let his anger control his words.

Upon reaching the island, Mako was greeted by the Air Acolytes who told him that Korra was currently meditating with Tenzin and that he was welcome to wait for her in the sitting room.

Korra arrived half an hour later looking determined and cold.

"What are you doing here Mako?" was her friendly greeting to him. He gulped, realizing the conversation was certainly not going in the direction he had hoped it would go. He decided to follow her lead.

"You've been avoiding me," he accused, rising from his position on the couch to stand directly opposite to her tense figure. She glared up at him, confirming his words to be true. His tone softened. "Why?"

Her face scrunched up into an unattractive scowl.

"Why do you think?" Mako sighed. They were getting nowhere with this conversation. Mako was determined to put up a reasonable front.

"Korra, you won't even look at me when we're in the same room unless you're glaring at me. Can't we at least be civil?" Korra started to smile, but something about it seemed off, causing Mako to worry about what was going to come out of her mouth next.

"Civil. Of course you want to be civil. Sure Mako, we can be _civil._" Korra spit the word out as if it was a disease.

"Agni Korra, what is your problem? I came to apologize, to make peace and you're not even trying!"

"What's my problem? What's your problem? I was gone for_ two_ _weeks_ Mako and the entire time, you were with the princess! And now, you want to be _civil._" Korra's tone was scathing but Mako could hear the underlining hurt and confusion. He watched as her eyes started to water and reached for her hand to comfort her, but it was quickly yanked out of his reach. Stunned, he awkwardly placed his hand back at his side.

"Is that why you're mad? Because I broke up with you?" He was startled by her laughter.

"You think that's why I'm mad? You are so dense Mako! You just don't get it, do you? You're so emotionally constipated. I just practically told you why I was mad and you still don't get it." She turned away from him. He could tell she was wiping away her tears, not wanting him to see her so vulnerable. "Just go away okay? Just go away."

In a physical fight, Mako was known to be "cool under fire". In an emotional one, Mako was as awkward as a flying turtleduck. Not knowing what to do, Mako left, shamefully walking back to the boat that would take him back to Republic City.

•••••

Mako really wanted to punch his brother. Bolin had started to laugh when Mako had told him of his conversation with Korra. He glared at the man, causing Bolin to get the hint and for his laughter to quickly subside.

"What? Seriously Mako, Korra's right. You're completely obtuse and emotionally constipated. Korra did tell you exactly why she's mad. You just didn't get it." Mako glanced at his brother, nudging his arm gently.

"Okay, so tell me. Why is she mad other than the obvious reason of me breaking up with her?" Bolin sighed.

"Korra's a girl. She's just feeling insecure and hurt like girls do." He suddenly sat straight up and his eyes narrowed at Mako. "For good reason of course." Mako groaned.

"So she is mad about me breaking up her." Bolin patronizingly shook his head. "Okay, so what is she insecure about?"

"She's insecure about your _love_," Bolin emulated Cupid in the way that pursed his lips into a smooch and fluttered his eyelashes. Mako pushed his silly sibling's face away. "I'm perfectly serious! Mako, you broke up with her and then a week later you were getting it on with Asami!" Mako winced. When Bolin put it like that, he sounded super sleazy. It sounded like…he didn't even care about Korra. Oh.

Seeing the revelation dawning on his brother's face, Bolin pronounced, "And my work here is done."

"Wait Korra thinks I don't love her?" Bolin nodded. "Well I do!" Mako stood up, probably to go make his way out of Bolin's place and talk to Korra again. Bolin quickly stopped his brother, a hand to his chest subduing him back to a sitting position on the couch.

"Give her some time to cool off, bro. Korra isn't going to just stop being mad at you over the course of a couple of hours."

"It's been a week since we got back from the spirit world. Korra's had plenty of time to cool off." Bolin stopped his brother again and he made to leave.

"And as we've previously established Mako, a _week_ is not a sufficient amount of time for anything."

"Right."

•••••

Mako gave Korra another week before he confronted her again. He decided to pay a visit to Bolin when he knew she was hanging out with him. When he burst into the apartment, his brother quietly snuck out of the room. For the first time in a week, Mako was in the same room as Korra. Alone.

"Hello Mako." Korra's voice was civil. Mako cringed at her icy stare, her usually easy to read blue eyes giving nothing away, and promptly abandoned his well thought-out and heartfelt speech. Instead what came out was,

"Let's be friends." Korra's eyebrows climbed so far up her forehead that they disappeared completely. Mako glanced down at the table, noticing some oddly bent spoons. Huh.

"What?" Mako swallowed and shuffled closer to her.

"Korra, you mean a lot to me. And the past couple of weeks have been really hard. I just want to be as close as we were before all this" Mako gestured wildly with his hand "happened. I understand if you haven't completely forgiven me yet. All I ask is that we be friends again." Mako waited patiently for her response, earnestly looking into her eyes.

"Ok." Korra didn't sound particularly enthusiastic, but Mako would take it anyways. "We can be friends." Mako smiled and couldn't resist hugging her, wanting to feel her smooth skin brush against his.

"I'm really sorry, Korra," he murmured into her hair. Korra stiffened, but slowly started to hug him back for a couple of seconds.

At that moment, Bolin reentered the room.

"Great, so you're back together!" Curse Bolin and his big mouth. Mako quickly let go of Korra as their embrace had suddenly turned very _very_ awkward, but kept an arm around her shoulder. She shifted slightly away, but didn't completely shrug him off. Mako smiled and then addressed his brother.

"Actually, we're friends." Mako pointedly looked at his brother, willing him to shut up. Bolin got the hint.

"Well, they say friendship is a beautiful thing." Bolin clapped the both of them on the back. "Say, why don't you stay a while, Mako? Korra and I were working on our metalbending. Since you're working with some of the best metalbenders in the world, you can probably give us some pointers." Bolin was totally bullshitting and both Korra and Mako could tell. But Mako wasn't going to let an opportunity to hang out with Korra pass. He agreed and added to Korra,

"I could also teach you how to produce lightening, if you want. I know you've been wanted to learn how for a while." He could see that Korra wanted to refuse, but the lure of learning something that would strengthen her bending was something that she couldn't resist. Not speaking, she nodded and then settled beside Bolin.

There are no shortcuts in love, Mako mused as he watched Korra and Bolin goof off and twist the spoons into disfigured shapes. At one point, a spoon almost took his eye out. He looked up to glare at his brother, but instead found a wide-eyed Korra apologizing profusely. He smiled and just placed the spoon back in front of her. She grinned back, albeit a little hesitantly, and then returned to flinging spoons at Bolin.

While they weren't there yet, Mako knew that he and Korra would eventually be together again. He wasn't just overly confident; he knew that he loved Korra. And when you love someone, you'll do anything to get them back.

* * *

AN: Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed that. So I've finally got some inspiration to write. I tried to include as many elements of the show as possible. Just a couple of things: in regards to the fourth time Mako "cheated", I understand that he didn't really cheat. The point was that it felt as wrong as cheating, as is explained in the next section. As well, when I found out that Mako and Bolin did a lot of scams when they were younger, I couldn't help but think of the ATLA episode "The Runaway". So that was kind of my tribute to that episode. Lastly, please comment as to whether Mako was in character; I sort of struggled with that and I hope I did him justice.

Oh and also: I wasn't trying to insinuate that Mako does't work hard because he works so hard. I just thought it was a fun little theme to run along with and string in some Makorra. Anyways, I'd be happy to hear some constructive criticism and even if you don't have any, a quick comment is much appreciated!

Reviews are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!


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